Currently accepting Graduate Students
Currently accepting Post Doctoral Fellows

Faculty Biography

Education and Professional Standing

PhD, State University of New York, 1987

MSc, University of British Columbia, 1983

BSc, University of British Columbia, 1980

Interests

Research Focus

Tumor suppressor genes and cell cycle regulation. My laboratory is studying the molecular events of cell cycle progression. At the centre of the lab's research is the retinoblastoma tumour suppressor gene (RB) and genes that encode two related proteins, p107 and p130. Early in the cell cycle, RB, p130 and p107 act to restrict progression. These proteins function in the cell nucleus where they interact with various transcription factors resulting in repression of certain genes. During cell cycle progression, RB, p130 and p107 become phosphorylated and can no longer interact with the transcription factors. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) and their regulatory subunits, cyclins, are responsible for phosphorylation of RB, p130 and p107. Different cyclin/cdk complexes function during different parts of the cell cycle and these enzymes are thought to provide the fundamental driving force behind cell cycle progression. Regulation of cyclin-dependent kinases and the manner in which they recognize substrates such as RB, p130, p107 is presently under investigation in my laboratory. During tumorigenesis, mutation of RB occurs in approximately 30% of all human cancers. In many other human cancers, mutations lead to unregulated CDK activity resulting in constitutive phosphorylation of RB, p130 and p107. Using methods of protein biochemistry and molecular genetics, we hope to unravel the mechanisms through which these proteins regulate cell cycle progression and, in doing so, understand their role in human cancer.